Key Peninsula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Key Peninsula ("The KP" or "The Key" to some locals) is a finger of land in Washington's Puget Sound. It is approximately fifteen miles long and extends south from the Kitsap Peninsula. It is part of Pierce County, Washington in the United States. Some of its towns include: Wauna, Key Center, Vaughn, Home, Lakebay, and Longbranch.

The Key Peninsula is in the Peninsula School District; Elementary school is provided by a number of small schools up and down the peninsula while middle school is provided by Key Peninsula Middle School (KPMS). High school age children attend Peninsula High School (PHS) on the Gig Harbor Peninsula in Purdy.

Though the Key Peninsula is connected to Purdy and Gig Harbor via the Purdy Bridge and is generally considered the same area by Pierce County, residents of Gig Harbor try to distinguish themselves from the Key Peninsula as it is considered by some to be an area inhabited by "hicks" due to most of the population being lower middle working class. Although with a boom in population on both the Key Peninsula and Gig Harbor Peninsula there has been an influx of new middle to upper middle class residents and areas such as Wauna have many large homes.

The Key Peninsula is home to two State Parks: Penrose Point State Park, and also Joemma Beach State Park.